It Will Always Be You
by lxy1235
Summary: AU- Its been 5 years since the gang left Hogwarts and James is finally moving on from a certain red head. However, a new development in James' love life has Lily re-evaluating her relationship with him.


_**A/N** Hi everyone, welcome to my first story. I hope you like it. I wasn't going to post until I had a few more chapters done but I need some motivation so thought i'd post the first chapter and see what happens. _

_Just so you know, this is Another Universe story that takes place a few years after Hogwarts. James, Lily, Remus and Sirius are all friends in this and don't expect much of Peter...if anything at all, I just don't like writing him. So here we go..._

 _ **Dread and Deceit**_

Today was the day she was dreading. She tried for a long as she could to put it off but was no longer able to postpone the inevitable. Today she would finally meet her boyfriend's best friends and frankly she was terrified. She had always hated this part of the relationship, where you are tested and questioned, before the important people in your partner's life decide if you are worthy enough to be with them, if you are the one who will make them happy and not forgetting of course the ever important how you will 'fit in' with the group.

She thought that perhaps meeting friends was far worse than meeting the parents. Kids lived to defy their elders, if parents disapproved it could only ever spur on the relationship, it would make it rebellious and exciting but if friends disapproved, the people will real influence, than she was screwed. Especially when the friends are an integral part of your partner's life and she knew how important this was to him, his friends were his family and he was fiercely protective of them. They'd grown up together, gone to school together, worked together, they had been there for each other through pretty much every important event in an adolescent's life and she was now expected to come in and be accepted into this highly exclusive society. She had to be ready and willing to expose herself to the countless personal questions that always came with these meetings and wait for the final verdict of her impending trial. Yes, she was dreading it.

"Ready?" Startled she gazed up into the inquisitive eyes of James Potter, her now official boyfriend of two months. He was looking at her with concern and she was sure her face had portrayed every fearful emotion that was playing across her mind.

Exhaling a shaking breath "yeah" she replied quietly. She hadn't realised that she'd stopped walking, standing paused in the street, her boots sunken in the fallen snow until James had tugged her hand silently urging her to continue. She felt guilty, he had wanted to introduce her to his friends a long time ago, when their relationship was just a series of dates but she always found an excuse to avoid it so it would be just them. At first he didn't seem to mind, he had appeared to enjoy getting to know her privately but they'd now become an official couple and it was getting harder to avoid the group outing he so desperately desired. She should be flattered she knew, he liked her and wanted to show her off, wanted to bring together the most important people in his life but despite this she found herself resistant. Although she had never looked forward to these meetings in the past she would usually grit her teeth and get it over with fairly early on in the relationship, but with James it was different. Simply, it came down to the fact that she liked him, a lot. She wanted so badly for this relationship to last and for his friends to like her because she knew that for him this was a deal breaker.

"Rebecca." She'd done it again; she'd stopped, unable to pull her mind away from her worry. "Are you okay?" he was staring at her once more, his deep brown eyes bearing into her own. Silently she nodded and made to carry on. It took her a few moments to realise he was not walking beside her, she turned to face him and this time it was he who was routed to the spot. "You don't have to do this you know. I know you're nervous but if it is really bothering you we can just go for a nice dinner or something. If it makes you more comfortable maybe I can introduce you to them slowly, one by one. Or spring them on you one day" he finished with a panicky chuckle.

If she had felt guilty before it was ten times worse now, his expression was a mixture of worry and disappointment. She had let him down; before they had even gotten to the sodding pub she had proceeded to upset him. She had upset her gorgeous and loving boyfriend who had done nothing but care about her; she had made him feel bad for pushing her into this. When all he wanted to do was introduce her to some of his favourite people. Merlin, she was a terrible person, mostly because she was actually tempted to take him up on that offer. No she thought, she needed to do this, she needed to do this for him.

"I appreciate the offer James but honestly I'm fine, just a little apprehensive that's all" looking down at her feet she started kicking gently at the snow beneath her unable to bare the look in his painstaking eyes any longer. For a long time neither said anything, they just stood, him eyeing her, her avoiding his gaze with forced intent, when finally she took a deep breath "what if they don't like me?" she uttered, finally admitting the source of her anxiety.

He looked at her with those puppy dog eyes that always made her melt. Quietly he stepped forward and took her hands in his "Of course they will, how could they not? Merlin knows that I think that you are amazing and so will they. Besides this isn't about getting their approval because I really don't care what they think. I want to be with you no matter what." She felt her shoulders lighten with this new information. That was exactly what she needed to hear, how he always knew what to say continued to amaze her.

With a renewed sense of confidence they carried on their journey through the cosy village. It was mid-November and unseasonably cold for this time of year, usually snow didn't fall until the end of December at least but the nights were now drawing in and winter was undoubtedly upon them. As they strolled hand in hand dim lights from cottage windows lit up sections of their path creating a shimmer in the snow beneath them. Every now and then faint sounds of music could be heard from neighbouring pubs while the odd few people bustled out of shops that were getting ready to close for the evening.

Finally they arrived at their destination, a creepy looking pub located at the very end of the village; it was tucked away, slightly behind the other buildings. She thought if she had had to find her own way she would have missed it, in fact she was sure that she would have. She'd walked this route many times before and had never even noticed the little pub. Perhaps it was because its haggard form wasn't exactly eye catching or appealing she'd be surprised if anyone wanted to go in there at all. It looked down right awful. Staring up at the uninviting building she sucked in a deep breath and held her shoulders back preparing for what lie ahead. James gave her a quick look from the corner of his eye before squeezing her hand in reassurement and pulling her through the door to her impending doom.

Inside the pub was pleasantly different from its outside appearance, its low ceiling created a cosy atmosphere and she was surprised to see how busy the place was. Not overflowing but many of the tables were occupied and there were a fair few people stood around the timeworn bar. James was obviously a regular here, many people greeted him and shook his hand on the way in, and it didn't go unnoticed with her that many inquired to where he had been recently. He just politely replied that he'd been pre-occupied before throwing a wink in her direction. Merlin, this man was dangerous, she was sure if she wasn't careful she'd soon be handing over her heart for him to play with.

"James!" someone shouted across the room, she had heard it but apparently he hadn't he was too busy discussing the latest Quidditch scores with the old man at the bar "Oi, Prongs!" came the voice again. This seemed to catch his attention, as he bid farewell to the red faced old man and reached for her hand before heading in the direction of the noise.

Rebecca followed behind letting him guide her through the scattered crowd until they approached a round table in the corner of the room which she noticed was occupied by two men. "Alright boys?" James said, greeted them with a smirk.

"Jamesie old boy, was starting to think you weren't going to show" the one with dark hair replied before his eyes glanced over at her, finally noticing her presence. "And who is this lovely lady?"

"Rebecca….Alrick" she said holding out her hand. She had expected a hand shake, however he seemed to have something else in mind. He stood abruptly almost knocking over the table in the action and bowed slightly before kissing the back of her hand.

"How lovely to meet you Rebecca, you may call me Sir Sirius." this man was too charming for his own good.

"Knock it off Sirius" James half scolded before he turned to Rebecca, "You don't have to call him that. He's a twit."

She let out a gentle laugh, feeling more relaxed she couldn't help but feel like this wouldn't be so bad after all. This Sirius as he called himself had made her feel comfortable immediately.

James gestured for her to slide into the booth "Would you like a drink?" he asked.

She was tempted to ask for the strongest alcohol they sold just to take the edge off but after some thought she decided being a humiliating drunk wouldn't help her situation "Surprise me" she said leaving her fate in his hands.

He grinned at her "I'll be right back."

The comfort she felt moments ago quickly disappeared as she was left alone with the two men. She knew they were studying her, she could feel their gaze burning into her like some sort of laser. "So Alrick was it, I've not heard that name before" this was the first time the other man had spoken. He looked quite different to Sirius, he was fair with sandy coloured hair and blue tortured eyes, undoubtedly handsome, they both were, but he was what she would describe as classically good looking whilst in contrast everything about Sirius screamed bad boy.

"Yes, it's German I believe, means ruler of all"

"James has his work cut out then; he always did like the feisty ones" Sirius chortled.

"Please ignore him, we stupidly made friends with him years ago and now we can't get rid of him" Sirius let out an outraged noise at the fair boy's remark. "I'm Remus, its lovely to finally meet you Rebecca. James has told us a lot about you."

"I hope that's a good thing" she quipped.

The spark of mischief in Sirius' eyes was undeniable "Course not, he says you're dreadful. That he'd much rather be spending time with the true love of his life….me"

He was teasing she knew, but a little part of her felt a bit deflated at that comment "Strange, I don't recall James ever mentioning you. Sirius you said your name was right? Doesn't sound familiar at all" the stunned silence at her remark had her wishing she could rewind time and keep her mouth shut. She had only been playing along but they were looking at her implausibly.

Then Remus snorted with laughter and Sirius' face quickly went from utter shock to a respectful grin. They had always teased each other's girlfriends and usually the retort was giggling or uncomfortable silence. Never had any of them ridiculed back and just at that moment James arrived with the drinks.

"What are we talking about?" he inquired.

Through his laughter Sirius' long dark hair had fallen onto his face, pushing back is locks he managed to spit out "Mate, I like this girl. She's got balls"

James laughed at that too before adding a cheeky "I hope not"

They continued like this for a while, throwing banter back and forth, pretending to be insulted at certain things and laughing hysterically at others, she could understand why James was so fond of his friends, they were fun. The apprehension that had been so tightly wound in her stomach at the beginning of the night had all but disappeared and she found that she was enjoying herself. She would listen to the stories of their antics, answer questions about herself and join in the conversation whenever she felt she could.

"Where's Evans tonight?" James asked when the conversation had started to die down.

"Has a date, said they might join us after if it goes well" It was Remus who replied, both boys nodded in understanding.

She's known about Evans, perhaps out of his three friends Evans was the one he talked about most. He would tell her how the three of them would prank Evans and how Evans had done this or Evans that. He talked about all of them this way of course the only noticeable difference was that he didn't seem to argue with any of his other friends quite as much. A few times now she'd met him and he'd been in a less than pleasant mood because as he would say 'Evans pissed me off', she'd never heard him say that about Remus or Sirius so she assumed that either James and Evans had a similar temperament and therefore grated on each other or Evans was simply, a dick. He had never given her the details for her to make an appropriate judgement.

As expected between men in the wizarding world the topic quickly turned to Quidditch. She allowed herself to tune out of this conversation not feeling the need to try as hard as she had at the beginning of the night and decided to simply take in the surroundings of the small pub. By now people had started to disperse and it was a lot quieter than when they'd arrived. She assumed that this is where the local workers came for a drink after work before returning home to their loved ones. With less people crammed in she could start to appreciate the originality of the place, it really did have a certain something special. The bar was a long semi-circle taking up the middle of the room, it was obviously built by hand as she noticed that the platform of the bar wasn't completely straight and there were a fair few dents in the rough wood. She briefly wondered if people ever spilt their drinks by accidently placing them down on a kink or if anyone had complained about splinters from the un-sanded wood. She also noticed that there were fairy lights floating above the stacks of bottles that lined the back of the bar, whether they were there for effect or just left from the previous Christmas she was unsure and even though it showed the dust on bottles that obviously were not popular with the masses, she liked it non the less. Yes, this was far from a pristine location and she probably wouldn't be tempted to try the food but it certainly had charm.

Suddenly she was pulled from her thoughts as a commotion had started to take place by the door, the men didn't seem to notice the change in volume, far too busy discussing Millers keeping skills, whoever that was. She noticed people gathering in much the same way as they did with James when they'd entered, the people were saying hello and hugging this person making comments again as to where they had been. Whoever this person was they were considerably popular, being held up minuets at a time by each person until finally they reached the bar.

Rebecca hated the sight on instant, this popular person was the most beautifully stunning woman she'd ever seen, no wonder the men were so happy to see her. She had brilliantly dark red hair that fell just below her shoulders and she could see her bright green eyes before she'd even looked properly in her direction. She was laughing and chatting to everyone, the pub had suddenly come alive again almost like she was the life and soul of this place. She wouldn't be surprised if people waited around just to catch a glimpse of her. She was speaking to the bar man now who had no qualms about skipping lots of people to serve her first and no one else seemed to mind either, it was standard practise it seemed. It became quite clear that they were flirting; he whispered something in her ear while she threw back her head laughing. Ugh, even her laugh was perfect she thought resentfully. The bar man beckoned her to lean forward with his finger and she easily obliged. If he hadn't been so old she thought she might have been sick with such openly public displays of affection. The girl laughed once more as the bar man kissed her sneakily on the cheek before whispering something in her ear. Rebecca assumed it was something to do with the drink being on the house because she didn't see her hand over any money before she turned away.

The girl seemed to scan the room looking for something before her eyes caught Rebecca's; she smiled quietly and began making her way towards the table. Crap! She'd been openly staring daggers at this girl and she had noticed and was now probably on her way over to give her a piece if her mind.

Rebecca's heart seemed to thump in her chest she really didn't want to cause a scene, not here not tonight. Her mind was on overdrive actively looking for an excuse as to why she'd been glaring at the girl. Maybe she could pass it off as the girl just seeing things, no that wouldn't work or she could say she was glaring at the man behind her. Yes, that was it. The man behind her was giving her eyes and she didn't appreciate it. She hadn't been glaring at the girl because she was so threateningly beautiful but at the pervy man behind the bar.

By the time her mind stopped racing the pretty red head was stood in front of her, she prepared herself for an argument but none came. Instead she seemed more interested in the men sat around her and frankly she was surprised that none of them had seemed to have noticed her yet, which was strange as all eyes had been on the girl since she entered the room. What exactly did this girl want? Was she really so cocky that she thought she could just walk up to a table of attractive men and pick from the bunch?

"Uh erm" she cleared her throat, clearly annoyed that she had been standing there for a good few moments without anyone acknowledging her presence. Still when no one looked up she did it again much louder this time her cheeks reddening and eyes flashing in the process. That seemed to catch their attention as all eyes fell to her.

"Oh hey Lily didn't think you'd make it tonight" Remus said politely

Rebecca's mind was on full force searching through past conversations looking for something she'd missed. Lily? Who was Lily? James had never mentioned her before.

"I've been standing here for a good few minutes now. I swear the Earth could be collapsing around you and you guys wouldn't notice if you were talking about Quidditch" she responded curtly.

Her response was met with three pair's sheepish eyes as Sirius said "Sorry Lily, you know how we get" although he did not seem sorry at all Rebecca noted.

With a huff she pulled at her scarf and made to sit down next to him "Its fine, you know I love you anyway." She said whilst nudging him slightly in the side. Trying to understand the situation Rebecca concluded that this must be Sirius' girlfriend… that made sense.

Once Lily had gotten herself comfortable her eyes finally fell to Rebecca's "So is someone going to introduce us?" She may have been beautiful but she was obviously very bossy, well she had to have some flaws Rebecca thought.

"Oh right sorry" It was James who spoke up now. "Lily this is my girlfriend Rebecca" he said before continuing with a slight glint of agitation "Rebecca …this is Evans"


End file.
